WCMB-TV
WCMB-TV (Digital and virtual channel 9) is the affiliate of The CW Television Network licensed to Erie, Pennsylvania , with studios and transmitter in Summit Township, sharing studios with sister radio outlet, WCMB-FM. WCMB is currently owned by Lake Shore Broadcasting. The main subchannel on 9.1 serves as an affiliate of The CBS Corporation/Time Warner joint venture network The CW, while 9.2 carries Fox Entertainment Group's MyNetworkTV, 9.3 carries Fremantle's game show subchannel network Buzzr, 9.4 carries Weigel Broadcasting's MeTV, and 9.5 carries Katz Broadcasting's Escape. The station is also available on cable on channel 9 in the Erie market and is also carried in Conneaut county, Ohio, part of the Cleveland market. The station signed on in 2016. Channel 9.1 is one of the few CW affiliates located in a small market that is on a main subchannel and is not part of The CW Plus station group. History Mission Broadcasting ownership/LMA with Nextstar Broadcasting/MyNetworkTV affiliation Virtual channel 9 was once the home of the WLEP-LD subchannels, with their digital channel having been on UHF channel 43, which operated from 2011 to 2015. 9.1 was affiliated with Luken Communications' Retro TV (branded RTV from 2009 to 2013), 9.2 carried PBJ, and 9.3 carried TuffTV during the day and classic movies from the 1930s to 1950s at night. LocustPoint Networks purchased the station in July 2014 with the intention to auction off the channel in the upcoming UHF spectrum auction then signed it off the air for good in February 2015. 3 days after WLEP went off the air, Mission Broadcasting applied for a full power license for the vacant digital VHF channel 9 frequency in Erie. Mission had wanted the physical and virtual channel 9 frequency in Erie for some time, but it was unavailable due to the previous station's existence. The FCC granted the license on October 1, 2015. The station started test transmissions in December. During the interim, Nextstar Broadcasting, which agreed to operate the station under LMA as they already have been doing with one sister sister station, reached a deal with Fox Television Stations, Inc. to air the MyNetworkTV syndication service, which had previously only been available in Erie on cable via Cleveland's WCDL and on Dish via superstations WWOR out of New York City and WSBK out of Boston, on 9.1. They subsequently reached deals with Tribune Broadcasting and FremantleMedia North America to air AntennaTV on 9.2 and Buzzr on 9.3, respectively, both of which were not available in Erie prior to the station's launch. The station launched under the call letters WABM on January 25, 2016 at 12pm. The station used the first three hours to air preview shows from all three subchannels. From 12 to 1, the station aired Law & Order: SVU, representing the main channel, from 1 to 2, the station aired back to back reruns of All in the Family, representing the AntennaTV subchannel, from 2 to 3, the station aired back to back reruns of Match Game '78 starring Gene Rayburn, representing the Buzzr subchannel. On July 3, 2016, 9.4 signed on as an affiliate of the FOX Family digital multicast network. From the time the station launched unti September 4, 2016, WABM simulcast the newscast from their direct sister station, while airing a repeat of their LMA sister. Nextstar announced on July 1, 2016 that WABM will launch its own newscast in the Fall of that year, later announcing September 5, 2016 as the launch date, originally slated to air at 6:30pm. On August 29, a week before the newscast's launch, Nextstar changed the timeslot to 7pm, as they felt putting it at 6:30 against the networks' evening newscasts would hurt its chances of being noticed and obtaining any ratings. The new newscast launched as scheduled on September 5 at 7pm. The company ceased the newscasts from the sister stations. On July 27, 2016, WABM added the -TV suffix to its call letters and updated its logo. Even though the station did not use the "My" branding that other affiliates of MyNetworkTV use during it's days as a sole MyNetworkTV affiliate, it utilized the syndication service's logo within the stylized 9 on the station logo. The lack of usage of the "My" branding was to avoid confusion with rival cross town station WTWF, which is affiliated with the similarly named network MyTV and uses the on-air branding "myTV 68." WCMB currently uses MyNetworkTV branding for subchannel 9.2, branded as "MyNetworkTV Erie." Sale to Lake Shore Broadcasting On January 13, 2017, almost a year after signing on, Mission Broadcasting announced that they were looking into putting WABM-TV up for sale sometime during the year. Tribune Broadcasting and Fox Television Stations, Inc. expressed interest in the station (Had the former purchased the station, it would have ended up back under Nexstar's ownership on September 19, 2019, when Nexstar's purchase of Tribune was finalized). However, Mission agreed to sell the station to upstart company Lake Shore Broadcasting on January 15, 2017, just two days after announcing they would sell the station. The sale closed on March 31, 2017. On that same date, channel 9 secured the broadcast rights to the long running syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune under a 3 season contract, creating a rare situation where a CW or MyNetworkTV affiliate airs both shows. Both shows moved to channel 9 on September 11, 2017, in an effort by Lake Shore Broadcasting to help The CW become a major network on a par with ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. They are part of a two hour block of game shows, with Jeopardy! airing at 6pm, Wheel at 6:30pm, and a double run of Family Feud at 7pm. The 7pm newscast moved to 10pm at that point. WCMB posted its highest nielsen ratings in the 6pm hour since signing on in 2016 after the two game shows premiered on the station, including Saturday, when reruns from the previous season air, with Family Feud giving the 7pm hour a slight ratings boost for the station. The CW affiliation On April 21, 2017, Lake Shore Broadcasting and The CW Network, LLC (a joint venture between CBS Corporation and Time Warner, each owning a 50% interest) announced that they have reached a deal for channel 9 to become Erie's CW affiliate, originally scheduled to take effect in September 2017. The CW had not been available in Erie prior to the affiliation deal, with the only access to select shows being available on the online streaming services Hulu and Netflix. For almost 5 months afterwards, MyNetworkTV programming remained on the station as a secondary affiliation, airing from 10pm to 12am Monday through Friday. Lake Shore Broadcasting was able to get the affiliation deal expedited on April 22, 2017, and began to air CW programming on April 24. The logo was given an update. The MyNetworkTV logo within the stylized 9 was replaced by a dot, and The CW's logo was placed to the left of the 9. Given that The CW was not available in the Erie market in any form (cable companies in the area refused to carry CW affiliates from nearby markets, WTWN out of Buffalo, New York, WXEL out of Cleveland, Ohio, and CW O&O WFJD out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, denying access to the network within the market, although these stations are picked up over the air in parts of the market, depending on location within the market. This was due to stations within Erie claiming Syndicated Exclusivity (SyndEx) on a number of non-CW syndicated programs that aired on those three stations; cable companies in Erie did not want to deal with the burden of blacking out those programs; Erie cable systems were able to carry the aforementioned WCDL without blackouts because that station was always able to obtain full signal rights to its programming since SyndEx was reinstated in 1990, when WCDL was an Independent station), it was expected that CBS and Time Warner (the companies who own The CW) would agree to grant WABM the rights to air the network's programming at an earlier date. MyNetworkTV programming was originally slated to move to 11pm to 1am in September. On June 24, 2017, Lake Shore Broadcasting announced that subchannel 9.2's affiliation with AntennaTV would not be renewed in September; NBC affiliate WJCH assumed the AntennaTV affiliation on September 11, 2017, placing it on subchannel 14.3. MyNetworkTV moved to 9.2 at that point, moving back to its intended timeslot, 8pm to 10pm, while other dayparts feature other syndicated programming, including previous season reruns of shows that air in first run on the main channel. The main subchannel's secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV ended on September 9, 2017 at midnight. WCMB airs all of The CW's programming in pattern, with the exception of reruns of The Jerry Springer Show, which airs at noon instead of its intended timeslot, 3pm, due to the station's pre-existing obligation to air The Wendy Williams Show in the 3pm timeslot. On their first night as a CW affiliate, the 7pm newscast was mostly devoted to their new affiliation as a kickoff show. Stars from CW shows made appearances on the newscast before cutting to and after returning from commercial breaks live from the lot at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, California and CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California to welcome channel 9 to the CW family. Beginning with that evening's airing of Supergirl, the main channel upgraded its picture resolution from 720p to 1080i, the resolution that all CW programming airs in. WABM opted not to carry The CW Plus, due to still having been under contract to air MyNetworkTV programming plus its desire to air its own schedule of syndicated programming outside of network hours; The CW Plus would've made this impossible, as the service is a prepared national feed supplied by the network with syndicated programming already on the schedule. It was later revealed that the affiliation was offered to channel 9 by the network after the station finalized the deal with CW half-sister company CBS Television Distribution to air Jeopardy! and Wheel. On February 1, 2018, WCMB dropped Fox Family from subchannel 9.4 and replaced it with MeTV, a classic rerun-based digital multicast network, bringing classic TV reruns back to the WCMB subchannels for the first time since AntennaTV departed 9.2. On that same date, WCMB signed on 9.5, affiliated with Escape. Call letter change On June 26, 2017, channel 9 changed their call letters from WABM-TV to WCMB-TV, to reflect the upcoming changes in affiliation for their 9.1 and 9.2 subchannels. Syndicated programming In addition to network programming from The CW, WCMB-TV airs syndicated programming, including Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, various versions of Law & Order, The People's Court, and Divorce Court. On November 5, 2019, WCMB added reruns of the A&E original program LivePD, under the title "Best of LivePD." The reruns are a joint production of A&E and WCMB owner Lake Shore Broadcasting, with plans to syndicate the reruns in the future. Radio sister stations WCMB-TV has two sister radio stations, one based in Erie, the other based in New Jersey as a semi-satellite station of the Erie radio station. Classic Rock station WCMB-FM is based in a studio downstairs from WCMB-TV. Semi-satellite station WAPT-FM is licensed to and based in Asbury Park, New Jersey. WAPT simulcasts the signal of WCMB-FM to the Jersey Shore, with a few exceptions. Advertisements for local Erie area businesses and cross promotion of WCMB-TV is replaced on WAPT with advertisements for local businesses in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey. Both stations are mentioned in top of the hour legal IDs. Digital Subchannels From July 3, 2016 to February 1, 2018, 9.4 was affiliated with Fox Family. It was replaced by MeTV. At that same time, 9.5 signed on carrying Escape WCMB-TV schedule (main subchannel, 9.1) Confusion between WLEP-LD and WCMB-TV WCMB-TV is not related in any way to the defunct WLEP-LD. WCMB's physical digital channel is located on a different frequency, and WCMB is a full power station, while WLEP was a low power station. WCMB's license is a new, separate construction permit issued after the demise of WLEP. Past logos Gallery WABM Supergirl promo.jpg|CW promo for Supergirl, as aired on WABM the day before the station officially assumed their CW affiliation MNTVonCW9.jpg|Promo for WCMB's airing of MyNetworkTV on a secondary basis after the station affiliated with the CW, moving MNTV to secondary status on the station, when the main subchannel still aired MNTV programming. The syndication service moved to 9.2 on September 11, 2017 JeopardyWheelCW9 promo.png|Promo for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune WCMBDT4.png|Ident for digital subchannel 9.4, affiliated with MeTV Category:Channel 9 Category:Erie Category:Pennsylvania Category:CW Affiliates Category:Television stations and channels established in 2016 Category:Lake Shore Broadcasting Category:CW affiliated stations Category:Former MyNetworkTV affiliates Category:Buzzr affiliates Category:MeTV Affiliated Stations Category:Escape affliliates